1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle headlamps.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicle headlamps provided with a light-emitting element array constituted by a plurality of semiconductor light-emitting elements that are configured to be capable of irradiating respective individual irradiation regions divided sideways at a level above the horizon are known. With such vehicle headlamps, by detecting the location of vehicles running in front and of pedestrians, and controlling the light-emitting element array so as not to shine on the individual irradiation regions that correspond to the location, adaptive driving beams (ADBs) that keep glare off the drivers of vehicles travelling in front and off pedestrians can be realized (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1: JP2013-243080
Attempting to implement an ADB by combining a light-emitting element array such as described above with reflectors having a reflective surface that is based on a paraboloid of revolution leads to problems in that the light-distribution pattern formed by the light reflected by the reflectors for each light-emitting element may narrow in width, or image may rotate, where the pattern is the more perpendicularly upward on the virtual screen, such that a light-distribution pattern having the desired irradiation region cannot be obtained.
An object of the present invention, brought about in view of the above-discussed issues, is to make available technology for realizing an ADB in a vehicle headlamp provided with a reflector having a reflective surface that is based on a paraboloid of revolution.